Nuke in a tin

We already have small-scale nuclear reactors powering nuclear submarines and warships. Can someone please explain why these cannot be adapted for civilian terrestrial use - in place of the new "reactor-in-a-box" designs that Phil McKenna describes (2 August, p 34)?

The editor writes:

• The first electricity-generating reactor in the US was in fact based on a submarine reactor design, plonked on land at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, in 1957. One reason most submarine reactor designs are not suitable for countering nuclear proliferation is that they are fuelled with weapons-grade uranium.

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